A new partnership between a Pennsylvania university and a Native American tribe aims to increase cultural awareness among students and establish a new curriculum at the institution.
East Stroudsburg University (ESU) and the Delaware Tribe of Indians signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September.
The university, located in a city with its namesake, is in eastern Pennsylvania near the New Jersey border. The agreement is a great fit, given that the 258-acre campus location is at the heart of the Delaware tribe’s original lands.
ESU is one of only two universities in the nation that partners with the Delaware Tribe of Indians. The other institution is Emporia State University in Kansas.
The university hopes the partnership will one day create scholarships at East Stroudsburg for members of the Delaware tribe, providing an opportunity for them to study in their ancestral homeland, says Dr. Joanne Z. Bruno, ESU’s provost.
Over time, most of the tribe has left their original lands. About 11,000 tribe members now live in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, the tribe’s headquarters, according to Dr. Brice Obermeyer.
Those working on the partnership say that Native students would naturally be drawn to a university they know is sensitive to their cultural needs.
